Discussion
In this project, three research questions should be answered regarding the factors that may influence consumer behavior during an online purchase, the determinants for online purchase behavior, and the differences within a purchase cycle of household items and healthcare products. There are also several important theories with the help of which it is possible to analyze human decisions and actions. Each theory has a specific impact on understanding the worth of online purchases of healthcare products.
The research findings provide various insights into the main determinants in consumers’ behavior towards the online purchase of medicated products. A perfect opportunity to identify the main principles of consumer behavior using personal experiences and interpretations was created. At the same time, research findings support various frameworks discovered in reviewed literature such as:
Innovative Diffusion Theory (Agag & El-Masry 2016) phenomenon – as we can see from research findings many respondents are willing to try new products while shopping online sometimes even prefer them to well-known brands with a meaningful story (Maity & Dass 2014). This phenomenon is questioning Commitment–Trust Theory (CTT) (in on-line shopping context), which highlights the importance of building a strong bond between customer and organization.
Communication with the participants of the study proves the contradictions between theories and the inability to discuss consumer behavior in one particular way. For example, female consumers in Ukraine and Russia enjoy the possibility to observe innovations in different fields and make new purchase decisions, evaluating brand characteristics, reading feedback, and examining the price. Such an approach proves the correctness of the IDT and rejects the principles of the CTT because of the impossibility to build strong buyer-customer relationships online (Wang, Wang & Liu 2016). However, male consumers can neither prove their devotion to particular sellers. They demonstrate their preference to buy at physical stores and check product originality.
There is clear evidence of culture-specific factors that need to be taken into consideration when analyzing differences in customers’ behavior.
Perceive usefulness and ease of use, the base point of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has found its support in the respondents answers.
People want to be sure that the recent technological progress, globalization, and the development of international relationships increase their benefits as potential buyers. The participants of the study admit that they like online shopping because of the inability to buy all the necessary products at home (in the UAE, in particular). Sometimes, it is hard to find out the necessary medication and health-related products in local pharmacies, and people start searching for new options to obtain the required item. In this case, the TAM describes consumer behavior as dependent on technologies and opened to new market relationships.
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Established in 1979 by H.C. Triandis, has also found its support in the research. Respondents that never did the online purchase of MCP could be persuaded to purchase if conditioned to a specific choice accordingly (Fawzy & Salam 2015)
As an abstract from the literature review, consumer’s behavior is defined as an approach that consumers display while fulfilling a need whether it is specific or not. This study is concerned not only with what consumers buy but also when, where, and how they buy it. This research is an attempt to understand online shopper’s decision-making process of MCP before, during, and after purchase taking into consideration different factors such as demographics and behavioral variables. It also tries to assess different aspects of influencers.
Research Question 1
What are the determinants for consumers behavior towards health care products online purchase in UAE?
Relying on the information obtained from interviews and the evaluation of the chosen theories, there are four main determinants of consumer behavior. They include a lack of experience and knowledge, gender, cultural background, and O2O option. The first observation of the study provides evidence that e-commerce and particularly in the health care sector is still on its developing stage in the region and trends in customer behavior cannot be seen as entirely positive.
During the screening, the stage was discovered that 50 % of potential respondents have never made online purchases of medicated consumer products. Lack of awareness is still a predominant challenge for MCP e-commerce marketing. As has been observed during the research – the main consideration determinant for those who have made an online purchase before is product unavailability in the offline market. Awareness campaign aimed to promote all the benefits that consumers can get from online shopping should be part of each communication campaign. However, people admit that unawareness remains the most frequent excuse for not buying healthcare products online. They do not know how to regulate online market relationships and correct mistakes if any.
Culture as we can observe in this research is one of the main determinants in consumer’s behavior. UAE itself demonstrates a less individualistic culture and a modern social system but the population of UAE is extremely diverse and comprises hundreds of nationalities therefore cultural aspects should be taken into consideration in building a communication campaign strategy. In some countries, the Internet has already become a considerable part of life and a strong means to make purchases, build relationships, and participate in various everyday activities (Kumar 2016).
In healthcare and medicine, the use of the Internet varies in developed (the United States, China, and Germany) and developing (India, Nigeria, and other Asian and African countries) with more severe problems being observed in the latter (Dimitrov 2016; Guo & Li 2018). Therefore, for some countries, the application of online services to sell healthcare products can be a solution to improve the quality of care and life.
One unexpected observation was collected from survey responses. All respondents (except American and German) have mentioned that they like searching for information and products on the internet but at the purchase execution stage, they would prefer an option (if available) to see the list of pharmacies where the product is available off line. It gives us clear guidance that O2O (online to offline) could be successfully used as a compliment for e-commerce and gradually change consumers habits towards online shopping.
The O20 option meets the standards of the TPB, ECT, TAM, and IDT. People want to believe that despite their evident dependence on technologies, the Internet, and industrialization, they still have a chance to make independent decisions, focus on their needs, and achieve both personal and professional goals. Therefore, the idea to provide consumers with a chance to choose between online and physical purchases or use both options at the same time (with one for consulting and experience exchange) turns out to be a strong determinant of behavior.
Research Question 2
What are the critical factors that influence consumer behavior towards the online purchase of healthcare (HC) products?
A final decision of consumers whether to buy online or not may depend on a variety of factors. In this study, trust, feedback, the power of the brand image, and site content were defined as the most influential forces for people regardless of their gender or age. Surprisingly but HCP is not a first referral for making a purchase decision in these products categories segment, many respondents prefer to search online for a product they need to buy. As soon as this product category is cheap it is rare planned and in many cases purchase decision is impulse and influenced by marketing communication or promotion campaigns.
The more important then HCP recommendation is previous consumers’ feedback. All respondents highlighted that good consumers feedback about the products could be the main determinant for purchase decision making. When a person visits a site and studies the characteristics of a product, more attention is paid not on the recommendations given by healthcare experts, medical workers, or other respected people who may become a role model but on the opinions left by other customers (Hardavella et al. 2017).
There are not many explanations for why people do such preferences. However, such an outcome may be based on some organizational issues like the attitudes towards the effectiveness of payment methods or the possibility to trust the chosen service and give money to unknown people. Therefore, additional research on how to identify the worth of ordinary customers’ feedback in buying medicated products online is required.
Consumers value innovations and could easily switch from well-known products to market newcomers. Due to a big variety of products and options available, today brand loyalty becomes a real challenge especially in an online environment where is the ‘switch’ is just one click away. People can easily learn about new products and approaches to health care, and their desire to try something new prevails over other factors in their behavior.
However, the biggest challenge is trust. Trust in the online purchase process itself and trusts in product quality. Consumers are not willing to accept any risk associated with the online purchase in this case vendor reputation is a perceived determinant of trust.
A common concern especially among individuals who never made an online purchase of MCP is quality therefore choosing the right platform for e-commerce perceived as very important. In contrast with household items, consumers don’t pay much attention to the brand name and trust more to e-commerce platforms rather than the brand name. Consumers pay attention to the way of how a product is introduced, how many characteristics are described, and what comparison they can make at the moment of purchase.
Research Question 3
“What are the main differences in the path to purchase cycle in between household items and healthcare products?”
There are many reasons why people prefer buying products or goods online but also leave the possibility to find similar options in physical stores. However, when the necessity to decide some health issues arises, even the most devoted online users prefer to talk to real people. According to the TRB and its extension in the form of the TPB, a personal subjective appraisal of abilities and the chosen behaviors plays an important role in making a final decision (Hongyan & Zhankui 2017). Within the context of this research, male participants prove their desire to check the origin and quality of a product because it is not just some kind of clothes or perfume (household items) that may be changed, removed, or simply unused, but a substance that is taken directly inside to improve health.
Another important difference between people’s attitudes towards buying healthcare products online and household products lies in the presence of an O2O option. Today, it is easy to find products for everyday use online. Regardless of their geographical location, people are free to visit such well-known sites as Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, or Alibaba and find the most frequently required products (Dunne 2018). As a rule, the choice depends on the popularity of the brand, its innovativeness, and the desire to buy in a short period.
This difference can be approved by the supporters of the IDT who say that any innovation can change consumer behavior and offer a new resolution to a problem or just an alternative that seems to be interesting (Agag & El-Masty 2017). As soon as another product is introduced and properly advertised, there is a possibility to attract customers’ attention and make a new purchase.
Finally, the price factor plays a role in the choice of a purchase path. The results of this qualitative research show that the income level does not determine the attitudes of people towards buying products online or at physical stores. However, product prices can be a serious contributor to the decision about whether to buy something or not. People find it less dangerous and more economic to buy cheaper products either they are online or not.
In many cases, people even regret some purchases as they are made unintentionally and unplanned just because of a low price being offered (Roberts, Hope & Skelton 2017). In terms of the TAM, people prefer to buy products that are easy to use and bring some benefits (Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo 2014). From this perspective, household items are in higher demand compared to healthcare products, and price determination cannot be ignored.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In general, it is useless to neglect the fact that the Internet and online shopping turn out to be an integral part of human life. People from different countries find it beneficial to purchase various goods and services, as well as medications and vitamins, online (Desai, Chewning & Mott 2015). Sometimes, the decision to find a product online is predetermined by some organizational or professional issues like time, cooperation with foreign stakeholders, or the interest in the development of new international relationships. However, in the majority of cases, consumer behaviors usually depend on a variety of personal factors and determinants.
In this paper, a qualitative study design with interviews as the main research instrument was developed to answer the main research question about the factors that may influence consumer behavior to purchase medicated products online. Direct communication with ten people (five of them were regularly using the Internet for online purchases, and five of them have never practiced this activity) helped to discover several important aspects of consumer behavior.
When people get an opportunity to buy medicated production online, their behavior is predetermined by such issues as gender, culture, awareness, and O2O options and depends on such factors as trust, feedback, brand, and site content and organization. The results of the investigation show that people choose how to behave regarding their background knowledge, experience, and abilities to gather as much information about new services as possible.
It is interesting to try new services, discover additional options, and obtain access to products that have been recently unavailable or unknown. Medicine is the field that is properly and fast developed in some countries but fail to achieve the same results around the whole world. The exchange of information and the possibility to deliver medications to different countries in a short period attract people’s attention and provide them with a chance to buy everything they need for free.
At the same time, they want to be sure about the quality and origins of the products that they choose, and it is hard to stay confident when nothing can be touched or examined before purchase. Therefore, several contradictions take place regarding the necessity to meet personal needs and expectations while buying medicated products online. They are also approved by several theories that were chosen for this study. The Technology Acceptance Model and the Innovative Diffusion Theory support the idea of using the best technological options to meet consumers’ needs and develop multiple options.
However, the Expectation Confirmation Theory, as well as the theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviour, focuses on customers’ attitudes within the frames of personal beliefs and values. Although female consumers are more willing to make medical or health-related purchases online, defining gender as one of the main determinants of consumer behavior, cultural background, values, personal knowledge, and options cannot be ignored. Also, trust in relationships, feedback, and site organization plays a role in making final decisions about the necessity to buy online.
There are certain strong aspects of the project, as well as several limitations that provoke the development of a new study. Special attention was paid to buying specific medicated products like skin creams, hair lotions, and other related supplements. Open-ended interview questions helped to find out what people think about their purchase experience, why they decide to buy a product online, and what explanations they give to approve their unwillingness to participate in online shopping.
The representatives of the UAE population shared their concerns about the quality of products that can be found on the Internet. People underline that they do not want to take any risks when their decisions are related to their health. Another benefit includes the identification of factors and determinants from multiple perspectives like personal issues and cultural values. Finally, psychological factors like the promotion of trust and the fear of the lack of experience deprive consumers of taking a step and buy something online. Some of them do not know enough about payment methods, and some people just want to be sure about the originality of production.
A small sample size and a limited number of medicated products for analysis are the main limitations of the study. The opinions of only ten consumers and three company employees help to gain a better understanding of a topic and clarify the factors that may determine people’s behaviors during purchases. However, their answers and experiences are subjective by nature, and the presence of biased information complicates the development of general conclusions.
A limited number of products results in the impossibility to discuss the worth of medications offered online and the opinions of experts. This shortage prevents from analyzing the power of feedback in buying medications online. Finally, the presence of contradictions provokes new research to be developed focusing on additional perspectives and discussing additional aspects of the same subject.
Taking into consideration the findings, limitations, and strengths, it is recommended to continue this investigation in a new direction. It is possible to extend the number or type of products that can directly influence human health and the quality of life. Buying Ibuprofen or Lozaprin, hand cream or food supplement online should not be considered as these products are available worldwide, and their price is defined as affordable for different populations. Tramadol, Benadryl, and Ritalin, as well as certain skin lightening products, are banned in many countries despite their strong qualities in control deficit disorder, pain, sleep, and allergies.
To find access to these products, people may use online services and order them from other countries. However, in this case, certain legal issues, cultural boundaries, and human rights could be broken. In this case, the factors and determinants of consumer behavior may be dramatically changed. The fear of breaking the law, the necessity to take responsibility, and communication with people can gain a new sense of the study. Access to primary data can be problematic, and an additional search has to be developed to find credible and information.
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